Roland-designs , Virginie's blog.

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday 21 May 2012

Sampler from 1803

I recently acquired a unique sampler stitched by an 8 year old girl called Ann Blanchard in 1803.
Ann used the long s (F) , take notice of the work Rose, it is spelled Rofe.
 
Sampler by Ann Blanchard, 1803


   The sampler features a rather serious lines from the famous poem ' The despairing lover ' by Theocritus.

On youth

\Fragrant the rose is, but it fades in time:
The violet sweet, but quickly past the prime:
White lilies hang their heads, and soon decay,
And white snow in minutes melts away.
Such and so with ring are our early joys
Which time and sickness speedily destroy.

Ann Blanchard work'd this sampler in the  8 th year of her age 1803
Chippenham


        Dryden—Trans. from Theocritus. The Despairing Lover. L. 57.  http://www.bartleby.com/204/183.html

   The sampler was bought from France, but is English in origine. It is folded, and it seems the top part was worked in wool... but it is so damaged that there is no way of knowing what had been stitched there.

The top of the sampler


   Ann would have been born around 1795, a quick google search showed a several Ann Blanchards, but not the one I was looking for.
   I am of course interested in knowing more about this special sampler, if you have any information be sure to contact me.


1 comment:

  1. Wow, I definitely wasn't doing needlework like that when I was 8! Heck, I doubt I could do it that well now as an adult. It's in great shape for its age, too.

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